The field of the invention is electronic displays, and particularly, displays which employ a matrix of illuminating devices that are individually operated to produce illuminated alpha-numeric characters and graphic symbols.
Electronic displays which employ a matrix of illuminating devices are well-known in the art. Such displays may include a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are mounted on a printed circuit board in an array. By selectively energizing the LEDs with electronic circuitry also on the circuit board, a variety of illuminated characters and symbols can be produced. To reduce cost and improve appearance, it is also common to attach the LED chips, or dies, directly to the printed circuit board and provide a shaped reflector over the LED dies. To protect the LED dies, the reflector is either covered with a transparent sheet material, or a transparent potting compound is poured over the dies. In either case, the front surface of these prior display arrays is flat.
While electronic displays of this type are quite satisfactory for many applications, their use in retail stores has been limited. In such an environment the ambient light is very intense and the light emitted by electronic displays is not sufficient to be clearly seen or to draw attention to itself.
One electronic display which obviates some of the problems of the prior art devices is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,496 which is commonly assigned. However, this particular display has a particular configuration for a lens matrix which can cause problems with light refractions and reducing the amount of displayed light.